Oath of the Survivor

THIRTEEN MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION.

Damn, damn, damn!  Kyle vaulted over a swarm of angry larvae, narrowly avoiding dozens of reaching horns.  His baton flashed back and forth, knocking several of the creatures clear from his path.  Kicking one caterpillar out of the way, he finally crossed to the pockmarked external wall of the tree, gleaming sunlight visible through multiple fist-sized holes. 

He had considered descending the way he’d come and exiting through the hollow, however the time constraint was too much.  Instead, with C.H.A.D.D.’s guidance, he opted to ascend towards the treasure from inside the tree itself.  They thought it was a great plan, up until he was forced to engage hundreds upon hundreds of the angry larvae in narrow confines.  Even if he was able to deal with them quickly, it still took time. 

He slammed his free left palm against the wall in front of him, activating RESONANCE.  He braced for the connection with the massive tree, and as soon as he connected he twisted and pushed with all his Willpower.  The bark in front of him, already brittle due to the damage from the colony of moth larvae, shattered.  A rough circle over three meters in diameter was suddenly blown open, revealing the thick foliage outside the tree.  Kyle was met by dozens more of the caterpillars, and from the damage to the branches and the leaves, it was clear that he’d interrupted dinnertime.

Or is it always dinnertime for these things?  His train of thought was interrupted by the shuffling sound on the wood as they approached his location, barbed prolegs allowing them to scale the vertical structure with relative ease. 

“C.H.A.D.D., can you plot a course?”

Without a word, orange light shone on a nearby branch, with others highlighted.  Kyle activated HASTE to boost his speed, then jumped, following C.H.A.D.D.’s directions.  He landed on a branch, and was immediately forced to step closer to the tree’s trunk as the well-worn branch began to crumble under his feet.  A warning flash from the drone alerted him to the falling form of several more larvae dropping towards him from branches above.  Swift strikes knocked them out of the air. 

“Gonna need you to reevaluate, C.H.A.D.D.!”

[DON’T BLAME ME FOR BEING TOO HEAVY FOR THE BRANCH, DR. MAYHEW.]

“Give me another path!”

Lights once again flashed, and Kyle grabbed a nearby handhold on the trunk and heaved himself up.  Sticking mostly to the side of the tree to avoid another near-drop due to the weakened wood, he was making good time.  That is, until his face passed one of the numerous holes in the tree.

Kyle moved his head out of the way as quickly as he could, but the acid-covered horn still grazed his cheek.  It wasn’t sharp enough to break his skin, but the acid it secreted burned his face.  What’s worse, the secretion lingered, slowly eating away at his Enhanced Carapace.  He felt the burning discomfort, enhanced by HASTE, and had to grit his teeth against the pain.  The surprise as much as anything threatened Kyle’s grip, and he barely pulled himself up in time to dodge another thrust from the creature.

[THIS MAY BECOME PROBLEMATIC, DR. MAYHEW.  TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX OF THE HOLES ARE NOW OCCUPIED BY THE LARVAE, WITH MORE APPROACHING.]

Even though the attack was a long way from being fatal, being consistently burned by acid wasn’t high on Kyle’s list of to-dos. 

EIGHT MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION.

“Then we’re doing it the hard way!”

[THIS HAD BETTER NOT INVOLVE EXCESSIVE JOSTLING.]

Kyle activated RESONANCE, pushing it through both his hands.  He slapped the smooth wood under his left hand, and focused on a short, powerful burst of mana.  As before, the brittle wood collapsed under the pressure created by the skill, leaving a fresh hole in the trunk to grasp.  Repeating the process, Kyle’s ascension was faster than ever before.  As he climbed, a gradually thickening violet mist began to obscure the air.  He grimaced as he put ADAPTIVE REGENERATION to work, though his body was already well-adjusted to the toxins.   

Soon, he could feel the prickling on his skin reach a fever pitch.  It’s here!  Vaulting through the mist, he came upon a natural nook in the tree.  All the foliage had been eaten away by the voracious insects long ago, and Kyle turned about looking for the treasure.  Then he spotted it.  The glowing orb, as well as the fattest, fuzziest caterpillar Kyle had ever seen. 

[SQUISH IT!  SQUISH IT NOW!]

Kyle nearly fell off the tree at C.H.A.D.D.’s outburst. 

“What the hell?”

[THE CATERPILLAR IS EATING IT, DR. MAYHEW!  HURRY!]

Dismissing the frantic tone, Kyle took a breath as he drew his baton once more.  He didn’t know exactly what C.H.A.D.D. wanted to do with it, but he felt confident it would be a terrible decision to let the massive caterpillar devour the treasure unopposed.  Survival of the fittest and all that. 

Kyle took a closer look at the creature as he dashed towards it.  The beast was approaching four meters long, and was at least a meter around.  Its lime-green body was covered in long, white hairs, and an almost comically small black mouth nibbled at the treasure.  Auric Perception gave Kyle the impression that the caterpillar was devouring the energy almost as fast as it was condensing, so without giving much thought, he lashed out at its face. 

Kyle’s hope was that the caterpillar would reel back, or otherwise pause its lunch.  Instead, long white hairs flowed up to intercept the attack, succeeding in absorbing the bulk of the strike.  If the insect cared, it didn’t show it.  It continued to munch away, seemingly oblivious of the man who was confronting it.  His rapid strikes were either ignored or blocked by the hairs, and C.H.A.D.D. was growing increasingly frustrated.

[DO SOMETHING, DR. MAYHEW!]

Kyle was leery of using RESONANCE after his last interaction with one of these forest treasures, so he improvised.  Dashing below the creature’s considerable bulk, Kyle activated STORM SHELTER.  He focused on his mana, willing it to condense in a smaller radius.  The shield formed, lifting the caterpillar from its meal and knocking the treasure off the branch.  Orange lights immediately lit up, C.H.A.D.D. providing a path to follow it. 

Kyle jumped after it, quickly descending the tree. 

FIVE MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION

Auric Perception warned him of the attack at the same time C.H.A.D.D.’s light did.  He jumped away from the tree as a massive stream of silky webs were blasted out by the bulbous caterpillar, coating the three branches and snaring the treasure.  The creature was spraying webs indiscriminately now, in moments coating this entire area of the tree’s canopy in strands of silk.  Seemingly satisfied with its work, it began slowly shuffling towards the glowing sphere.

As an organism, the caterpillar was interesting.  It was one of the strangest creatures Kyle had fought in this new world.  At the end of the day, however, it was still an enemy.  Without having to worry about any unintended reactions with the sphere, Kyle closed the distance.  He extended his palm towards the creature, which moved to block with its hair.  Against physical attacks, this was an effective strategy.  It did nothing against RESONANCE, which connected just fine through the fine hairs, and in a moment the massive creature was dead.

Kyle didn’t hesitate.  He navigated his way through the webbing, struggling to remove the treasure from its bindings.

A voice crackled through the nav bracelet, a mix of anger and worry. 

“What the hell are you doing, Kyle?  Get out of there!”

TWO MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION.

There was no time.  Kyle descended as quickly as he could, one arm securing the treasure.

ONE MINUTE UNTIL DETONATION.

He was over halfway down the tree.  He’d been struck by over a dozen of the acid-covered horns, his body was screaming in pain as HASTE magnified the sensation.  Looking up at him from the ground was a veritable phalanx of red horns.  If he fell, he’d be swarmed. 

THIRTY SECONDS UNTIL DETONATION.

He had to take a gamble.  He slapped his free hand against the trunk of the tree, opening up another gaping hole in the bark with RESONANCE.  Dashing into the gap, he clambered down the space between the worn bark and the remaining solid wood.  He could see the hollow below him, ten meters down, then five.  He jumped for it, seeing that it was still relatively clear.

FIVE SECONDS UNTIL DETONATION.

Kyle hit the ground hard, finding an open space near several startled-looking larvae.  Without stopping to think, he activated STORM SHELTER.  One thought pushed through his mind.  Hold!

The world turned white.  A massive blast of concussive force ripped through the tree, striking Kyle’s shield.

Hold!

Cracks began to appear in the barrier, splinters of wood and dust began to collapse on top of it.

Hold!

A loud crack split the heavens as the tree above him began to fall, more and more debris raining down on top of his position.  Large branches fell and broke over the damaged shield, increasingly heavy impacts causing more cracks to appear.

HOLD!

~~~

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